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|||||||||||||||| USOO5147908A United States Patent (19) 11 Patent Number: 5,147,908 Floyd et al. 45) Date of Patent: Sep. 15, 1992 (54) CATIONICPOLYVINYL ALCOHOL BINDER 4,405,375 9/1983 Gibson et al........................ 106/277 ADDITIVE 4,461,858 7/1984 Adelmann ........ ... 524/503 4,528,316 7/1985 Soerens ........ ... 524/503 75) Inventors: William C. Floyd, Chester; Louis R. 4,537,807 8/1985 Chan et al. ............................ 428/74 Dragner, Rock Hill, both of S.C. 4,816,540 3/1989 Onishi .......... ... 527/300 4,837,087 6/1989 Floyd et al. ......................... 428/51 73 Assignee: Sequa Chemicals Inc., Chester, S.C. 4,888,386 12/1989 Huang et al. ... ... 524/503 X (21) Appl. No.: 587,012 4,954,577 9/1990 Dinwald et al. ............... 524/503 X 22 Filed: Sep. 24, 1990 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 51) Int. Cl. ................................................ CO8L 3/04 Zunker, David W.; "Incorporating The Benefits Of 52 U.S. Cl. ........................................ 524/49; 524/55; Polyvinyl Alcohol At the Wet-End Of Papermaking'; 524/503; 525/57; 525/58 1982 Papermakers Conference. 58 Field of Search ..................... 524/503, 49, 55, 57, 524/58 Primary Examiner-Joseph L. Schofer Assistant Examiner-J. M. Reddick 56) References Cited Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Mitchell D. Bittman U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 57 ABSTRACT 3,573,236 3/1971 Barlow .....................r 260/7 3,597,313 8/1971 Williams et al. ... ... 162/67 A cationic polyvinyl alcohol binder additive is prepared 3,600,342 8/97 Nickerson et al. ................... 260/17 suitable for addition in the wet-end of a paper making 3,700,61 0/1972 Nickerson et al. ............... 260/17 R process by reacting a blocked glyoxal resin, a cationic 3,810,783 5/1974 Bomball ........................... 117/122 S water-soluble aldehyde reactive polymer and a polyvi 3,912,529 10/1975 Kotani et al. ... 106/87 3,932,335 l/1976 Gorton ............ ... 260/29.6 nyl alcohol polymer. 4,169,088 9/1979 Hansen ................ ... 260/29.6 4,311,804 1/1982 Raghava et al. .................... 524/503 24 Claims, No Drawings 5,147,908 1. 2 No. 4,461,858 is that the solutions are stable only at very CATIONIC POLY WINYL ALCOHOL BINDER dilute concentrations (e.g., 3%) and gel at higher solids ADDITIVE (e.g., gel in minutes at 12% solids). Another drawback of U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,858 is that in forming the MF BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 5 resin acid colloid at a pH near 1 to 2 concentrated hy This invention relates to preparing a cationic polyvi drochloric acid is used, which is a very corrosive solu nyl alcohol additive suitable for addition in the wet-end tion which requires exotic materials for proper han of a paper making process and more specifically to a dling. non-formaldehyde additive which is a stable fluid aque A further problem of the prior art is that the amount ous solution at high solids yet imparts improved perfor O of cationic charge imparted to the polyvinyl alcohol is mance to the resultant paper. difficult to control as the melanine-formaldehyde resin There are numerous commercial wet end additives acid colloid is a variable composition. In addition, the being used in paper making. Among the additives are use of melanine-formaldehyde resins or polyamino cationic starches and melamine-formaldehyde resins. polyamide epichlorohydrin adduct as a wet-end addi Cationic starches are used for improving retention of tive makes the resultant paper difficult to repulp and cellulosic fines, filler and pigment, and also for increas recycle because the resin does not readily break down ing the dry strength of the resulting paper. However, during repulping. the use of cationic starch can lead to irregularities in performance (irreproducibility of batches, low solution SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION stability, low wet strength), incompatibility with other 20 Briefly, the present invention prepares a stable aque components in the furnish (alum, size, other salts), and ous non-formaldehyde based cationic polyvinyl alcohol high biological oxygen demand (BOD) for additive not binder additive by reacting an aqueous solution of on the pulp or recycled, and which is lost in the waste Water. blocked glyoxal resin with a cationic water-soluble, Other wet-end additives are often used to confer 25 aldehyde-reactive polymer and a polyvinyl alcohol permanent wet strength to the resulting paper, such as polymer. Stable fluid solutions of the additive can be cationic urea-formaldehyde UF resins, amine-contain obtained at up to 12% or higher solids levels. ing polyamides treated with epoxides (e.g. Hercules DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE "Kymene' 557) or melanine-formaldehyde (MF) resins INVENTION (e.g., "Parez' 607 of American Cyanamid). However, 30 UF resins are slow curing on the machine, while the The present invention prepares an additive which is polyamides are relatively expensive, slow to absorb on highly adsorbent on cellulose pulp and as such is suit the cellulose pulp, and make repulping of the paper able for incorporation in the wet-end of the paper mak relatively difficult. The MF resins show poor pigment ing process. Significantly improved properties in the and filler retention, and also exhibit low water absor 35 paper were exhibited including internal bond strength, bency, whereas absorbency is often desired along with dry tensile strength, reduced elongation and sizing ef wet strength. All of these types of additives give only fectiveness. In addition, because this additive can utilize modest enhancement of dry strength. Also, none of the precisely defined polymers of known cationic charges, above types are now recognized as improvers of wet the amount of cationic charge imparted to the polyvinyl web strength (at their usual concentration of applica alcohol can be precisely controlled, thus enabling in tion) which would permit greater production control proved control over the drainage and retention proper and in some cases, increased productivity. ties of the paper and avoiding the problems due to ex Polyvinyl alcohol has been used for surface sizing cessive cationic charge, such as flocculation of the fi and surface coating because of its excellent film forming bers. Further, since the glyoxal resin component uti and binder characteristics. However, polyvinyl alcohol 45 lized in the additive is destroyed at higher pH's (e.g. is not added directly to the wet-end of the paper making above pH 10), the resultant paper can be more readily process because most of the polyvinyl alcohol would repulped and recycled by utilizing higher pH's during pass through the wet paper web end into the white repulping. water. The absorption and retention of unmodified alco The additive of the present invention is a reaction hol on fiber and filler is insufficient to resist the volumi 50 form of a blocked glyoxal resin, a cationic water-solu nous water discharge and the hydrodynamic forces ble, aldehyde-reactive polymer and a polyvinyl alcohol present during paper formation. polymer. This additive is stable in solution at solids Methods have been disclosed for associating polyvi levels even as high as 12% by weight solids or higher. nyl alcohol with a positive charge to allow it to be The glyoxal resin component of this mixture is incorporated into the wet-end of paper making by react 55 blocked to inhibit it from reacting fully with the other ing the polyvinyl alcohol with trimethylolmelamine components prior to drying. Inhibiting the reactivity of acid colloid (see Tappi Journal, Volume 66, No. 11, the glyoxal resin allows a product to be formulated at 11/1983). Also U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,858 discloses a higher solids and/or lower viscosity than otherwise polyvinylalcohol/melamine-formaldehyde resin inter possible with unblocked glyoxal resin. The blocked action product. However a serious drawback in the use glyoxal resin reacts with both the polyvinyl alcohol and of such materials is that they contain free formaldehyde. the cationic water-soluble, aldehyde-reactive polymer, The presence of free formaldehyde is undesirable, not loosely attaching them together thus imparting a cati only because of its unpleasant odor, but because it is an onic charge to the polyvinyl alcohol. The blocked gly allergen and an irritant, which can cause severe reac oxal resin appears to crosslink by a two-step process tions in the operators who manufacture the agent and 65 with the first step occurring in the reaction in aqueous who treat and handle products containing it. A further solution with the cationic polymer and polyvinyl alco drawback for the cationic polyvinyl alcohol/melanine hol, with the second crosslinking reaction being de formaldehyde resin products as disclosed in U.S. Pat. layed until the paper is dried. Using this invention, it is 5,147,908 3 4. possible to prepare a paper additive with a high level of group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and X may be C,O, or solids. With free (unblocked) glyoxal, the additive can N; when X is O.R3 and R4 are each zero; when X is N, be unstable resulting in thickening or gelling of the R3 or R4 is zero. additive, or the additive may show unacceptably high Typical examples of such urea reactant compounds viscosity or gelling over time. include, but are not limited to ethylene urea, propylene Glyoxal readily reacts with binders such as polyvinyl urea, uron, tetrohydro-5(2 hydroxyethyl)-1,3,5-triazin alcohol and with the cationic water-soluble, aldehyde 2-one, 4,5-dihydroxy-2-imidazolidinone, 4,5-dimethoxy reactive polymer and other polymeric agents in a cross 2-imidazolidinone, 4-methyl ethylene urea, 4-ethyl eth linking reaction. Crosslinking causes the mixture of ylene urea, 4-hydroxyethyl ethylene urea, 4,5-dimethyl glyoxal resin and the polyvinyl alcohol and/or poly 10 ethylene urea, 4-hydroxy-5-methyl propylene urea, 4 meric agents to thicken or gel.